Easter Sunday Worship Service for March 31, 2024 at 11 AM

Welcome

Opening Song: Christ Is Risen

Let no one caught in sin remain inside the lie of inward shame.
We fix our eyes upon the cross and run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us. Freely You’ve bled for us.

Chorus:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death.
Come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave.
Christ is risen from the dead, we are one with Him again.
Come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave.

Beneath the weight of all our sin You bowed to none but Heaven’s will
No scheme of Hell, no scoffer’s crown,
No burden great can hold You down.
In strength You reign. Forever let Your church proclaim.

(Chorus)

O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light.
The glory of God has defeated the night!
O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light.
Our God is not dead. He is alive! He is alive! 

Chorus:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death.
Come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave.
Christ is risen from the dead, we are one with Him again.
Come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave.

            © 2009 Thankyou Music, spiritandsong.com, Unknown, and SHOUT! Publishing

Invocation

Confession and Forgiveness:

P: Come into the presence of God. It is God, Himself, who bids us to come to Him in prayer, especially when we have sinned, so that we may receive His forgiveness. So, we enter His courts with confidence that if we confess our sins, He will forgive us as He promised.

(A time of silence to reflect and personally confess our sins)

C: Heavenly Father, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart and have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ and His suffering and death on the cross, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen

P: The Lord our God is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.  Therefore I announce unto you the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In His stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

Old Testament Reading – Isaiah 25:6-9

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,  of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God. 

Song of Praise and Thanksgiving – This Is the Feast

Refrain:
This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
Whose blood set us free to be people of God.
(Refrain)

Power, riches, wisdom, and strength,
And honor, blessing, and glory are His.    (Refrain)

Sing with all the people of God,
And join in the hymn of all creation;

“Blessing, honor, glory, and might,
Be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.” (Refrain)

For the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign. Alleluia!
(Refrain)           © 2008 Sharon Dennis, Doris Au MacDonald, and Lutheran Book of Worship

Epistle Reading – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading – Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.

There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise be to You, o Christ.

Children’s Message

Sermon Hymn – Jesus Christ is Risen, Today

Jesus Christ is ris’n today, Alleluia!

Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!

Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!

Suffer to redeem our loss, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!

Unto Christ, our heav’nly king, Alleluia!

Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!

Sinners to redeem and save, Alleluia!

But the pains which He endured, Alleluia!

Our salvation have procured; Alleluia!

Now above the sky He’s king, Alleluia!

Where the angels ever sing, Alleluia!

Sing we to our God above, Alleluia!

Praise eternal as His love; Alleluia!

Praise Him, all ye heav’nly host, Alleluia!

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Alleluia! © Public Domain

Sermon – “Behold – The Risen Savior”

Prayers: Text in prayer requests to (813) 326-5255 

Nicene Creed (stand)

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (stand)

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen

Offering (sit)

Words of Institution (stand)

Peace (stand)

P: The peace of the Lord be with you all.
C: And also, with you.
P: We greet each other in the peace of Christ.

Distribution

Prayer (stand)

Benediction – The online service ends. The closing hymn video is on the Livestream page bulletin at FaithWesleyChapel.com with lyrics below. See announcements below as well. 

Closing Song – I Know that My Redeemer Lives 

I know that my Redeemer lives.
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead.
He lives, my ever-living Head. 

He lives triumphant from the grave.
He lives eternally to save.
He lives all-glorious in the sky.
He lives exalted there on high. 

He lives to silence all my fears;
He lives to wipe away my tears;
He lives to calm my troubled heart;
He lives all blessings to impart. 

He lives and grants me daily breath.
He lives, and I shall conquer death.
He lives my mansion to prepare.
He lives to bring me safely there. 

 

He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives;
I know that my Redeemer lives!
I Know That My Redeemer Lives!                                      © Public Domain